Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan has had his hits in the NFL draft (Jamal Adams) and his misses (Christian Hackenberg).
Overall, 10 of the 22 draft picks Maccagnan made between 2015-17 remain on the active roster. Another is on injured reserve and two are on the practice squad. Maccagnan was asked Thursday how he feels he has fared in the draft.
“For the most part, I feel pretty good,” Maccagnan said. “There’s definitely picks that haven’t worked out. But again that’s part of this business. I do think if you look at our roster, there’s a lot of good, young players we have. We’ve drafted and I think we’ve positioned ourselves well with that. We’ve also gone in college free agency and found some good players.”
The 2018 class might be Maccagnan’s best, and the selection of Sam Darnold at No. 3 will ultimately determine his legacy as GM. Maccagnan pointed out he has been able to not just build the roster through the draft, but also with free agency.
“We’ve done some good things in the draft,” Maccagnan said. “I think we’ve augmented that with pro free agency. I think right now we have a good young core to build with going forward.”
The mystery of why the Jets cut WR Terrelle Pryor two weeks ago is not getting any clearer. The Jets cut Pryor, citing his groin injury, but Pryor signed with the Bills this week, a sign the injury was not all that serious.
“I would say simply when we made that decision based on the information that we had, he was dealing with an injury and we were dealing with a lot of injuries at that point in time, not just at that position but other positions,” Maccagnan said. “It was a difficult decision to make. It was about the injuries and just trying to manage our roster. Nothing negative on Terrelle, wish him well.”
CB Trumaine Johnson (quad) practiced for the first time in a month. He has missed the past four games, but was limited in practice Thursday, a sign he could play Sunday against the Dolphins. … The following players did not practice: WR Quincy Enunwa (ankle), WR Robby Anderson (ankle), TE Neal Sterling (concussion), NT Steve McLendon (ankle), OLB Frankie Luvu (neck) and LB Kevin Pierre-Louis (foot). WR Andre Roberts (back) and LT Kelvin Beachum (knee/ankle) were limited along with Johnson. … Dolphins WR Kenny Stills did not practice with a groin injury.